A slang term referring to
anyone who participates in the "superhero culture".
Not all metahumans qualify as masks, and not all masks
qualifiy as metahumans.

Mere

A derogatory slang term used by some of
the more arrogant metahumans, referring to normal human
beings. Derived from the phrase "merely human".

The Metagene

The Metagene was discovered on August 26th, 1970, by scientists working
for the US Centers for Disease Control. The gene, which has been
proven to be the ultimate source of almost all superhuman powers, is
linked to the genes which control intelligence. It is estimated
that only one out of every 500000 human beings carry the metagene, and
only 1 out of every 2000 great apes. Out of those numbers, only
about half will ever manifest any sort of superhuman ability.
In addition, only about half of the people who manifest a superhuman
ability will gain the kind of impressive power that marks the average
superhero or supervillain.

Originally it was believed that some
factor inherent in the 20th Century created the metagene in the human and ape species through
brute force mutation, but the existence of such people as Turner D
Century (whose metagene expressed itself in the mid-1800's) and Pharaoh
(whose metagene expressed itself over 3000 years ago) have shown rather
that the gene has always lain dormant within the genetic codes of both
humans and apes.

Since the advent of the superbeing, people have
wondered why some geographic areas appear to produce more super-powered individuals
than others. While none of the theories are necessarily exclusive of the
others, two stand out. Both are summarized below.

Genetic Inflexibility and Geographic Isolation as
Influences in Metagene Frequency
- Dr. Marta Middendorf, University of Munich: "Over the millennia, humans have
colonized a wide variety of climes, and over those years, have grown adapted to those
regions. They ventured out from those areas rarely, and in so doing - or in
not so doing rather - impeded any potential evolution of their
genetic structure. Their adaptive and genetic processes - challenged
only by limited climatic stimuli, the potential diversity trapped in
so limited a gene pool - these people were working counter to the
evolutionary process. In essence, they may have inadvertently been
making stagnant evolution and breeding the metagene out of their gene
pool.

"Africa and Southeast Asia, isolated areas of Alaska and
northern Canada, regions with little interaction - in every sense of
the word - with the rest of the world have demonstrated lower
incidences of the appearance of the metagene. Compare this to the
North American continent, particularly the United States, wherein
peoples from all over the world share cultural and genetic diversity.
It is on this continent where the genetic structure has been freed
from its inflexibility and the metagene best allowed to express
itself.

The Influence of Natural and Manmade Climatic Elements
on the Genetic Process
- Prof. Harold X. Jackson, University of Texas at Dallas: Adaptation and evolutionís
always been a reactionary process. The heat, the cold, too much rain, too much
sun - evolutionís always worked to give every life form the best fighting chance for
survival. And for the most part, itís always been a gradual process for a
region. At least until it gets that wild hair and bumps everyone up a notch on
the ladder.

But thatís when we all were growing on a level playing field.
Nature used to be the only one that decided how and when we evolved. Nature
was the one that said what was going to influence our genes and how. Now Manís
putting his voice into it. Manís been putting more and more destabilizing elements
into the climate every year, and unequally across the planet.

The frequency of metahumans showing up around the world helps to
substantiate this. Third-world nations, those lowest on the industrial scale,
have the lowest output of pollutants and energy emissions and the lowest appearance
rate of superhumans. Whereas nations like the United States, the most industrially
aggressive nation to date, has pumped out the greatest amount of destabilizing elements
and has the greatest appearance rate of metagene occurrences.

Metagene-Inspired Genius

One of the most common expressions of the metagene has been so-called metagene-inspired
genius. In most occurrences of this phenomena, the metagene carrier creates one
specific piece of amazingly advanced technology and then never again
show any sort of metagene expression. In other cases, the
metahuman inventor becomes a font of new technology. Such technology is sometimes easily
replicated by engineers and scientists, but much more often is simply
baffling to anyone undertaking a study of the invention. When it
is replicatable, the inventor usually becomes very, very wealthy.

Metahuman

A term used to refer to anyone
with superhuman powers or abilities. Generally, it
is not used to refer to persons who gain
their "powers" through exceptional training or through the
use of devices (see "Super-Athlete" and "Gadget",
respectively). Used interchangeably with
"Superhuman".

Metahuman Distribution

The ten nations which have the highest rate of metagene expression
per capita are, in descending order:

The United States

The People's
Republic of China

India

Great Britain
(including Scotland, Wales, and Ireland)

Germany

Canada

France

Japan

Brazil and
Australia (roughly tied)

Metahuman Power Classifications

The United States Department of Defense divides metahumans into the
following general power levels. It should be noted that these categories are
not precise, and there have been several occasions where a metahuman of one power
level is generally considered to be a member of another power level. Usually,
this mistake is made in the direction of underestimating the metahuman.

Omega:The Omega category is the domain of those
individuals who possess truly godlike power. These
individuals seem to be capable of doing nearly anything
they wish to do. So far, only two Omega class
Metahumans have ever been recorded: The Blood Red
King and Amnesty.

Alpha:
Alpha-level metahumans are massively powerful, but have definitive
limitations on their raw power. By themselves, they can be a
threat to entire teams of heroes, and they generally operate on their
own.

Beta:
The Beta category is the highest level of "mainstream" metahuman.
Most active superheroes fall somewhere into this category.

Gamma:
On a slightly lower power scale than Betas in terms of raw power, Gamma-level metahumans
can nevertheless still be a threat to an Alpha, especially if they are in groups.

Delta:
The Delta level metahuman is at the bottom level of the mainstream
metahuman. When compared to a normal individual, a Delta-level
metahuman is amazing. When compared to a Beta, they are
considerably less than impressive. A team of Delta's could
probably cause a single Beta a great deal of difficulty in a fight,
but a platoon of Betas could take on a battalion of Deltas and win.

Epsilon:
Epsilon-level metahumans sometimes have one or two useful superhuman
powers, but generally they are considered jokes by the greater
community of superhumans.

Zeta:
A Zeta-level metahuman is as weak as you can get and still be considered
superhuman. In general, a Zeta has powers that don't do anything
useful at all.

"Miracle Materials" is a phrase used to signify any material (usually created
and/or discovered as product of metagene-inspired technology) that has extraordinary
properties when compared to similar materials.

Adamantium:
Carbon-diamond with its molecular chains
arranged in a metallic lattice, this material is almost impossible to
work or shape and must be synthesized "in place" if it is to be
used at all. To date, only simple objects have ever been created, as
the synthesizing adamantium is both time-consuming and expensive.
The original sample (a three inch cube) is on display at the
Smithsonian Institute. The substance was named by its creator,
fourteen year-old comic book fan and metagenius Kenneth Darby, who has
yet to produce anything else of note.

Ballistex:
This artificial fiber has chain-linked
molecular bonds which allows the energy of impacts to be dispersed
throughout the material rather than staying at the point of impact.
Its commonly used in body armor (bullet proof vests, military helmets,
and so on) and other safety gear (including football pads and
helmets). It is lighter and more resilient than standard Kevlar.

Bio-Fiber:
Bio-Fiber is an artificial multi-cellular colony organism that tends to grow in a
film only two cells thick. The resulting "fabric" is extremely tough
for its weight and will accept dyes of a specific formulation only.
Bio-fiber possesses a small measure of cellular mobility, making a
tight-fitting garment of Bio-Fiber self-fitting to a certain extent,
and its natural biological defenses mean that in large part its
self-cleaning. However, it is the fabric's interaction with the
exotic metabolisms of metahumans that make it truly amazing.
After a short period of acclimation, bio-fiber adapts to energetic or
metamorphic powers. Thus, a costume made of bio-fiber can
stretch, grow, or shrink with its wearer, and will not be incinerated,
frozen, or otherwise harmed by the energetic emissions projected by
its wearer.

Catalyte:
This rare element (probably of extraterrestrial origin) vastly
increases the efficiency of nuclear reactions, so that they require
much less energy to start. Makes compact fusion reactors practical,
and even allows for "cold fusion" devices.

Flexionite:
Flexionite is made up of many metallic micro-cylinders arrayed
together in sheets and bonded. The resultant material is easily
worked but once in its final form it tends to retain that form.
It is primarily used in the manufacture of vehicles. Repair of structural
damage to a car with flexionite body-panels is a matter of a minute's
work by a trained mechanic.

Questonite:
Questonite is an ultra-strong plastic. It can be made transparent, suitable
for windows in deep-sea submersibles, visors for armor, viewports in super-prison
cell doors, and the like.

Regalloy:
In its untreated form, this metal (brought to earth by the Xorn) is a dense liquid
similar to mercury. It can easily be poured into mold forms in this state,
but once exposed to a chemical catalyst hardens to near unbreakability.

"Moreau" is a slang term for an
animal that has been genetically altered and "uplifted" into
full sentience and a humanoid shape. No one is sure
where the Moreau's originated (not even they know for sure),
but it is clear that someone has been doing a lot of genetic
engineering out there. As of 2009, the total number of
known Moreau's worldwide hovers around 12,000.

Nanites are the common name for both the nanotechnology assembler and the
nanotechnology computer. First theorized in 1959 by Dr. Richard Feynman
in his now-classic lecture There's Plenty Of Room At The Bottom,
nanotechnology was first seen as one of the ultimate developments of
man's technological heritage. Such machines could assemble
anything that was needed in a relatively short time, then easily
disassemble the same object and recycle the materials into another
object, and a nanotech "doctor" could enter a human cell and repair it
from the inside. In 1984, the first perfected nanite robots were
created by then doctoral-candidate Fiona Richards.

In 1980, an artificially intelligent android calling itself Adam Silicon sued its
creator for violations of civil rights. After much debate about the
nature of intelligence, the nature of life, and also after much testing of Adam
Silicon, the Court ruled that any machine that could be shown to be self-aware was
a person in the legal sense.

In 1981, the United States Supreme Court expanded upon the issue of
non-human intelligence by ruling that sentient apes were also
"people" in the legal sense. Dealing specifically with
the question of the inhabitants of Gorilla City, the case
argued that since the apes who lived there had the intelligence of an adult human, he
should be given the rights and privileges of an adult human, including
the right to live and travel as they pleased. Eventually the case
went before the Supreme Court, which ruled that any ape that could be
proven to have human levels of intelligence was a person, and thus had
rights that had to be respected. Later that same year in a supplementary ruling, the Court added that since
there are some humans with intelligence far lower than the common average, and yet their
rights had to be respected, it must be assumed that the definition of
"human levels of intelligence" be a broad one.

In reaction to these two cases, the
Congress of the United States passed the so-called Non-Human
Intelligence Act, which recognized the rights and privileges of all
beings with provably human intelligence. In 1983, the United
Nations General Assembly voted to make the American law a part of the UN
Charter, over the protest of many member nations. The most notable
objectors were the People's Republic of China, Italy, and Iran.

In 1757, William Picket and Matthew Harding, two fur trappers exploring
the area around what is now Mason County, Ohio, discovered a small
community of white settlers. They were living as farmers and there was
ample evidence that they had been living in the area for many years.
Harding's journal records that he found gravestones in the community
that dated back 150 years. His journal also states that Harding believed
the community to be older than that, though it doesn't state why. Among
other details, he reports that they had a rather simple political
structure with a circle of town elders who oversaw everything. Only one
of these elders was named and he was the only resident of Nowhere, Ohio
named in the journal: Thomas Butter (a.k.a. "Old Tom").
Harding, however, is known to have been
somewhat of a practical joker and most historians today give little
credence to his journal. Officially, Nowhere, Ohio, is considered to
have been founded circa 1700 by an early group of frontiersmen.

By all appearances, today, Nowhere, Ohio, appears to be a sleepy little
town known most for its odd name and the sheer number of 4H Blue Ribbon
winners it produces. It is largely ignored by the world at large and the
residents prefer it that way. What is not known by the world at large is
that Nowhere, Ohio, also contains the greatest number of active mages
and mystics per capita in the world. To shield the small town from unwanted
publicity, powerful wards have been set in place that prevent
nonresidents from discovering the secret. The wards target and erase
memories and other recordings that reference this secret. Only those who
are already magically inclined are immune to this effect.